Fringe

Reviewed by:
Robbie Throckmorton

The Skinny: An international flight lands in Boston and investigators discover that all on board died of a mysterious flesh-eating disease. Olivia Dunham (hot Australian Anna Torv) teams with brainy bad boy Peter Bishop (Joshua Jackson) and his mad-scientist father (John Noble) for answers when the disease infects her current bed buddy.

The Good: This is easily the fall's buzziest new show, partly because it comes from J.J. Abrams (Lost, Alias), but also because it's great. The two-hour pilot is stuffed with action, mystery, a cow (!), and even humor, thanks mostly to a wisecracking Jackson. You'll probably be a little confused with all the goings-on (it is J.J. Abrams), but the closing moments will have you eagerly awaiting next week's episode.

The Bad: X-philes are calling this a knockoff, and it does deal with the supernatural and "fringe" science. But Jackson and Torv are no Mulder and Scully, and we hope the series doesn't devolve into buddy-cop territory, as the show's procedural aspects are easily its weakest. Plus, those of you with lives might wish they had wrapped it up in an hour and saved some for later.

In Plane Sight: This is the second Abrams pilot to open with an airplane incident. But don't worry—a cabin full of passengers with their skin falling off makes a desert island crash seem sissy by comparison.

Watch, Ignore, or Read a Book Instead? Watch it. There's a reason everyone's talking about it, and you don't want to be left behind.

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